The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1887-03-11
THE COBB PRIDE.
A sketch From Real Lire.

| cldSpIng 1t fondIy to her motheriy heart,
she allowed her eager thoughts of him she
| listened tor, to wander back into the past.
| Again she was a child, crossing the wild
| New Hampshire hills, wind-swept and snow
clad, to reach the little red school house,
where she was striving with a courage
unsurpassed by that of ancient or modern
hero for the prize offered to the best speler.
Now, she emerged upon the broad plaza of
| womanhood and came to understand, with
deep heart-burnngs, that she lacked one of
woman's browning glories facial beauty;
and realized that she must take a back
seat, as it We're, among her young asso-
| ciates. The first bitterness of this knowl-
edge again filled her proud soul to over
| flowing. Again the great resolve to frame
future came fresh into her mind and
crowded out the bitterness of that unwel-
come discovery. and she saw herself, in
| imagination, the successful operative in one
of the great mills set in motion by that
| greatest of manufacturing rivers, the Mer
rimac. The pay-days Of every month in
| trunk at her boarding place, until hund-
| red bright silver dollars were in her pos
session. Then came again the thrill of
| pride to her heart, with which she took
| her treasure to the bank and received in
| return bank book in her own name
| Betsy Cobb. Now she remember how she
| denied herself those little feminine vanities
| INDUCED in by her mates, that at the end
of the year she might add another hundred
to her bank account. She reviewed the
| time of distress, sickness, and poverty in
| her old home, extending over years, which
demanded her hard earned savings and
also her labor from day to day as she
earned it; and with what a glad heart she
| had contributed it, never for moment al
lowing her ambitious scheme to come into
her heart as she sent the much needed
money TO the aged and helpless ones at
! home. The fifteen years OF her life spent
iii the noisy weaveroom of the great factory
We're slowly reviewed. She felt herseifthe
| possessor of a thousand dollars, safely be-
slowed in her bank, where it would in
crease itself until she might need it.
She was now looking upon that long
needed vacation time when she, plain
homely Betsy Cobb, with only her great,
| tender, womanly heart to recommend her.
had suddenly found herself an object OF in
terest TO gentleman, greatly superior to
her in position. Older by some years than
herself, now past thirty, he became at once
adviser, friend, and lover.
With the unsuspectlng confidence of
true natures she had given herself into his
keeping, never doubling that her husband
was all he seemed a gentleman, both by
birth and education, good and true man
who had the misfortune to lose abundant
wealth but was still the possessor of snug
competence She was remembering the
happiness Of shat setting up-house- keeping
as the babe on her breast stirred softly.
Her soft, sweet, low voice rose in clear,
delicious harmony with the ecstatic joy OF
that remembered time as she hushed its
SAUNDERS and gazed fondly Upon it.
Again the child slept sweetly. Strangely
enough. a frown darkned the noble face of
the mother, her lips became set Evidently
she was REFRESHING strong emotion. Alas!
she was remembering the day she became
conscious that he her maidenly heart had
bowed down to. was that detestd5le thing
"A DRUNKAED. She was bitterly review
ing the terrible heartache she had suffered
on that ever memorable time, when for two
whole days and nights she had shut her
self from he sight of him she had blindly
worshipped, refusing to listen to his urgent
appeals and voluminous promises of re-
form.
Alas! what were those promises worth ?
Rum was everywhere. The great city a
bounded with it, and she soon learned that
he was powerless to resist when once with
in the smell of it. How often since had
she led him home in state of beastly in
toxication. How often had she expostu-
lated, entreated, begged, duplicated, all in
vain! Davis Green was a ruined man if
She could not remove him from his present
surroundings, and the babe she had given
birth to must become a pauper.
The little he had owned at their marriage
had melted in his fingers and disappeared
as the snow melts beneath an April sun,
leaving only filth and black mire in its
place. Once again her face frightened, she
was thinking ola great plan for his re-
demption she had thought out and ma.
tured during the period of her confne-
ment, when the fathers joy had held her
once noble husband swell-bound prisoner
at her side for two whole weeks during
which time the power of the poison had SO
lost it's effect that protested to no longer
desire it and willingly acceded to her plan.
All! with what joy she was thinking of
him reformed, as she fondly hoped he
would be when they could leave the dread
full rum-defiled city! Yes, they would
move in few days and baby would never
know papa was naughty, no, no, no. She
had learned Of a good farm for sale on
short notice in the town of Bartlett, far
from the city. A thousand dollars would
give it to her and save her husband from
a fate worse than death Why should she
hold on to the mere money when
it would purchase so much happiness ?